Episode 14: Is Harold Halibut 2024’s gaming babygirl?

It’s been a while since the Indieventure crew did a group review, but here we are at last once again, this time having a proper gander at newly-released (by the time you hear this, anyway) stop-motion narrative adventure game Harold Halibut. Drawing its inspiration from mid-20th century TV — namely an unusual blend of hard sci-fi and gentle animated comedy shows — Harold Halibut proved somewhat divisive among the Indieventure trio, although we find it so hard to argue with each other even when we disagree that once again we end up negotiating a reasonable middle ground. What can I say, sometimes we’re so wholesome it’s sickening. But thanks to our lively exchange of ideas, there’s a good chance that you’ll come out with a well-informed impression of whether Harold Halibut is a game for you or not.

This episode also contains a mini review of Pepper Grinder, a new pixel-art 2D platformer and the latest outing for the linchpin indie publishers at Devolver Digital. Does it have cronch? Stay tuned for the verdict from our resident pinecone-munching expert.

And last but not least, hyperfixations! In a break from tradition, Rebecca doesn’t want to talk for long about how much she’s been hooked on The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood of late, because she’s literally been playing it for our discussion next episode and that would defeat the point. This leaves Liam and Rachel plenty of time to swap reality TV recommendations: courtesy of Liam we have Channel 4’s latest social experiment The Underdog: Josh Must Win, while Rachel presents us with South Korean game show The Devil’s Plan on Netflix, which turns out to have been way better than the second season of Physical 100.

Our music was written and performed by Ollie Newbury! Find him on Instagram at @newbsmusic.